The Rest Is Politics: US

Podbit · The Rest Is Politics: US

198. Trump's War On Europe: No Way Back?

Explore episode Jun 22, 2026
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JD Vance: Set Up to Fail on Iran

198. Trump's War On Europe: No Way Back? · Jun 22, 2026 News

Trump sent Vance to Iran negotiations knowing the mission was impossible — and said as much. If it fails, it's JD's fault and not mine. Vance has been handed a losing hand in a race against Rubio for Trump's succession, and he keeps ending up on the wrong side of history.

Where this was said

JD Vance: Hypocrite, Casualty, or Both?

At 34:40 · chapter starts 32:20

The Vance segment is Scarborough at his most cutting. He catalogs the contradictions: Vance attacked the Catholic Pope, a recent Catholic convert lecturing the Pope on theology so offensively that right-wing American Catholics were appalled. The same Vance called Trump 'cultural heroin' and 'America's Hitler.' Most damningly, Vance's conversion to Trumpism came not before or during the 2020 campaign, when it might have meant something — but in the weeks after January 6th, after the insurrection, after the lies, after the attempt to overturn democracy. He saw a Senate seat opportunity and made the calculation. Now he is in a competition with Marco Rubio for Trump's succession — and by all indications, Trump is leaning Rubio's way. The book includes a scene where Trump jokes 'Cubans love gold' when asked if his successor would tear down the White House's gilded decor. Vance, Scarborough argues, has been handed a losing brief on Iran — and Trump has already told people that if it fails, it's JD's fault, not his. Vance has been set up to take the fall.

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